Refrigerating and refrigerant.



Patented Iuly 3, |900.

SQ H. EMMENS. BEFRIGERATING"AND REFRIGEBANT. (Application led July 1'5,1899.)

('No'Model.)

UNTED STATES STEPHEN I-I. EMMENS, OF-NEW YORK, N. Y.

REFRIGERATING4 ANQ REFRIGERANT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 652,759, dated July 3,1900. Application and Jun-15,1899. saai No. 723,948. on specimens.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, STEPHEN HENRY EM- MENS, a subject of the Queen ofGreat Britain and Ireland, and a resident of the borough of Richmond, inthe city and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Refrigerating and Refrigerants, of which the following isa specification.

My invention has for its object the preparation and use of refrigeratingsubstances possessing a much greater cooling power than those hithertoemployed in the arts or for the purposes of every-day life and not beingcapable of conversion into gas at ordinary atmospheric temperature.

In carrying out my invention I avail myself of the high degrees of coldwhich have of late years become available on a commercial scale by themanufacture of apparatus for liquefying air. To these frigid conditionsI subject substances that remain liquid at average atmospherictemperatures after irstin closing the same in hermetically-sealed cans,so as to preserve the same for repeated use, as hereinafter set forth,and I continue the cooling until solidiication is attained and until thesame are snperfrozen by cooling them down to the temperature of liquidair.V 'I am thus enabled to prepare portable blocks of materialcontaining varying amounts of coldz'. e., negative thermal unitsreckoned from the temperature to which the refrigerants are ultimatelyto rise when employed for cooling purposes-which blocks are then removedfrom their freezing environment and used as refrigeran ts inrefrigerators, railroad cars, ships, and other places'.n In order toconveniently transport and use the said blocks in a preferred way, .theyare put in'cases or jackets of felt-lined wood or otherpartially-heatinsulating material, by means of which the cans areprotected from injury during transport and the coolingpower of theblocks is regulated as to speed of action, and when such cooling poweris exhausted the jacketed cans are returned to the charging-station,where by removing the cases and exposing the cans to thebefore-mentioned frigid conditions the blocks are reconstituted. Incases where the abovedescribed blocks are required to be Yused for thepurpose of providing a supply of ordinary ice I may provide the jacketswith a recess in which a metallic trayof water may be placed in contactwith the can containing the frozen or superfrozen refrigerant.

A sheet of drawingsaccompanies this speciiication as part thereof.

, Figure l of these drawings represents a 1ongitudinal section throughan individual block of the improved refrigerant and its jacket. Fig. '2is an endelevation of the jacket shown in Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is a planview of a shipping-case with the top removed, illustrating the method oftransporting cooling power in greater quantities.

Like letters refer to like parts in all the igures.

My refrigerant is used in the form of one or more blocks B, preferablyand conveniently rectangular in shape, each block consisting of ahermetically-sealed sheet-metal recepya rectangular opening throughwhich the @ick- Bef the refrigerant can be introduced into the interiorof the case, which is conformed thereto and has a felt lining C. A

quadrangular frame or distance piece D fits into the opening of the caseand forms within it a recess in which is placed a metallic tray E. Afelt-lined lid F iits inside the tray and forms one side of the case,being connected with the body of the case by suitable fastenings, ashooks and staples G. A stirrupshaped metallic strap H and a handle I atthe open end of the strap provide convenient means by which to lift andhandle the jack` eted block. When a supply of ice is required, the lid Fis removed and the tray E is filled with water and then covered with thelid turned top downward.

In the transportation of cooling power in greater quantities a number ofmetal-clad blocks B are preferably.. andv conveniently packed side byside without interstices Yof substantial extent within a shippingzcase'A, having a felt lining C, as in Fig. 3.

The substances that I employ for the manufacture of my improvedrefrigerants are water, brine, cryohydrates--that is to say, salinesolutions of such a strength in each ,tacle or can l'illed with asuperfrozen liquid IOO particular case as to have a minimumfreezing-point-alcohols, and mixtures of water with glycerin or alcohol,or both. For eX- ample, by exposing water to the low temperaturesobtainable by means of a liquid-air apparatus I manufacture superfrozenice having a temperature of 300 below zero Fahrenheit. One pound of thissubstance in rising to 42 Fahrenheit will absorb three hundred andfifteen thermal units, whereas a pound of ordinary ice as supplied todomestic refrigerators Will absorb only one hundred and iifty-fourunits. By my invention I am thus enabled to more than double the coolingpower of ice, thereby effecting a great economy of weight, bulk, andexpense. substance, however, that I prefer to employ is a liquid which Iname glyee and which consists of Iifty percent. of water and fifty percent. of glycerin. It freezes at about 23 below zero Fahrenheit and hasa specific heat greater than that of ice. One pound of glyce, ifsuperf'rozen to 300 below zero Fahrenheit, is capable when acting as arefrigerant and rising to 42 Fahrenheit of absorbing three hundred andfifty-eight thermal units, thus being considerably more efiicient thansuperfrozen ice.

For special purposes the refrigerant may be put up in cylindrical,spherical, and other shapes, as well as in rectangular blocks of anydesired proportions, and other like modifications will suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art.

I am aware that for the purpose of regulating the action ofrefrigerating apparatus it has been proposed to include in suchapparatus stationary closed cans or receptacles containing a liquidhaving the function o f alternately freezing and thawing to a greater orless extent dependent upon the excess or defeet of negative heat in thecirculating refrigerant as compared with the atmosphere The or othermatter to be cooled. AThis, however, is entirely distinct from myinvention, which does not consist in any system of regulation, but is anentirely new method of utilizing the new materialliquid air-for theproduction of a refrigerant available for general use in the form ofportable blocks.

The term hermetically as herein used is intended to mean tightly withreference to preventing leakage without limitation as to the mode ofsealing. The term "superfrozen is intended to mean reduced below thenormal solidifying temperature of the liquid to the temperature ofliquid air at normal atmospheric pressure.

Having thus described said improvement, I claim as my invention anddesire to patent under this specification l. The method of producingrefrigerante in the form of portable blocks consistingin hermeticallyinclosiug a non-volatile liquid within sheet-metal cans, and superfreezing the same by exposure 1o the cooling action of liquid air.

2. The method of producing refrigerants in the form of portable` blocksconsisting in hermetieally inclosing a mixture of Water and L glycerinwithin sheet-metal cans, and superfreezing the same in the manner hereinspecied.

3. A refrigerant in the form of a portable block consisting of a superfrozen non-volatile liquid hermetically inclosed within a .sheetmetalcan.

4, A refrigerant in the form of a portable block, consisting of asuperfrozen mixture of water and glycerin hermeticall y inclosed withina sheet-metal can.

STEPHEN 1I. EMMENS.

Witnesses:

NEWTON W. EMMENS, WILLIAM MoLLoY.

